Pages

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

I could barely believe my email this afternoon. Alyssa from Pile of Fabric wrote to let me know I was chosen as a finalist in the Totally Groovy QAL!! I think I sat in a dumb stupor for at least an hour!

Now it is voting time! Please go to Pile of Fabric to vote for your favorite. There are some absolutely gorgeous quilts, including a fantastically wonderful one from my friend, Jess from The Elven Garden. Voting ends on Saturday. Good luck narrowing it down!

This month's challenge by Teri Lucas was to write your name (I actually did my daughter's) and practice several designs around it, including a grid of some kind. She also suggested the shells and the feathers. As you can see, feathers still plague me, but that is truly my fault as I have not practiced them as much as other designs.

Those shells were also difficult for me as my mind couldn't quite figure out how it wanted to accomplish the layers or rings of the shell - whether to travel stitch back to the inner circle or travel stitch along a spine in a serpentine fashion. I tried it both ways and neither was very comfortable. It was also nearly impossible for me to stitch the design at the speed I am most comfortable with (medium), thus the stitches of the shells are rather tiny from moving my hands much slower than the machine was going. All in all though, I liked the design.

There was also a bonus tutorial by Diane Loomis released this month that I would really like to try involving trapunto. It seems like a perfectly reasonable skill to have if you are quilting. I will have to try it out soon, but I can't think of any projects I have in the works to add it to. I will have to keep pondering that one.

This Wednesday......

Completed Projects:

Free Motion Challengeitem - my heart was broken after the Totally Groovy disaster, I could barely bring myself to get this one done. I think I rallied well enough, and now my other two daughters want one of these too.

Star of Africa Bee - October's block is due soon. I have an idea in my head, but I'm not sure it will be possible to translate into a block. I'm going to have to spend a day of trial and error soon.

Preschool Pillowcases - I started pulling out the fabric. Thank goodness they don't have to be fancy! Perhaps breaking it down a bit - like doing 4 cases a week - might be reasonable. That way, I don't feel like it is the only thing I am working on.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I have started catching up on the blocks for the How Far Will You Go? QAL. Well, I have done ONE block this week! I am about 8 weeks behind somehow. I didn't realize I had taken THAT much time off, but time has really been going by quickly lately and I know it isn't going to slow down until after the New Year.

I started with last week's block and plan on working backwards. I figured that would inspire me to make sure they actually got finished. This week is threatening to be a little crazier than normal with Halloween and such. I am also teaching my first art class for Ashley's 1st grade class on Thursday. As usual, I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully, I will have more blocks to share with you despite all the craziness.

What have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks. You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off! And, don't forget, you have all week to add them if you like.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please consider grabbing my button and posting it in your blog post
4) Visit other linky participants!

The quilt patterns are great. I mean with a title like Quilting Modern, you better get some cool quilting patterns right? I referenced this book several times while quilting my Totally Groovy quilt above (can you tell?). There are several pages covering straight-line quilting, curved quilting, free-motion quilting, the use of decorative stitches, and quilting on a long arm (if you are inclined). There are fabulous photographs showing many of the motifs discussed, plus a few that they don't. They also give some great tips on how to choose a quilting motif for your modern quilts.

I just love the projects in this book! 21 in all, and at least half of them are on my "want to do" list. They also include smaller projects like pillows and place mats to try out the techniques. I appreciate that as time is limited sometimes.

The skills built in this book mostly have to do with improvisational piecing, something I think anyone can accomplish without too much difficulty and get fantastic results. "Slice and Insert", "Stitch and Flip", and Improvisational Curves are also presented with projects for each technique. Angled and strip piecing are also discussed.

Bonus tips and hints throughout the book - including how to sew an invisible zipper closure for pillows and 3 or 4 different ways to make a design wall for your studio.

Doesn't it seem like you get a lot in this book??

I also enjoyed reading their philosophy:

Honor the Past

Release Your Inner Artist

Embrace Serendipity

Fail

Savor the Moment

Make a Friend

Free Yourself

I won't copy what they wrote about each point, but the failure one really hit home, "Improvisation is about trial and error. Cherish every mistake or misstep as a learning opportunity. Many of us don't start out of fear that we won't succeed. We recommend failing right from the start. Get it out of the way and move forward." -- Great advice, don't you think?

I think I have mastered failing right from the start! But, they are right in that some people need to make mistakes in order to learn. I am definitely in that category and I think you can tell by reviewing my projects chronologically.

Do I recommend it?

Yes! Even if you aren't into modern quilting, this book has a lot to offer. If you are into modern quilting, then it is a must have!

The project I can't wait to try...

The Illusions Quilt - I want to make it in aquas, although the black and white is very appealing also (and goodness knows I have a lot of those in my stash at the moment).

Pillowcases for my daughter's preschool - if thinking about starting them counts as progress, then they are in progress. Luckily, the school is relaxed about the finish date, but they really should be done already.

Finish Totally Groovy - Well, it was done, until catastrophe struck. I am in the process of figuring out how to "fix" the problem ('cause I don't have time to make a whole other one).

Finish Olivia's applique quilt - the blocks are done but need to be pieced together into a top, then backed, quilted, etc.

I feel like I accomplished a bunch of the bigger items, but now I need to focus on the smaller/more numerous items. I've also managed to avoid adding to my list so far, but I don't think that will last. There are a few people already dropping hints about wanting certain items for their holiday gifts. I guess it is nice to be in demand.

Friday, October 26, 2012

It's that time of year again - time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. If you have never heard of it, go check it out. There are hundreds of wonderful, absolutely stunning quilts from all over Blogland. There is so much talent, I don't know how these quilters narrowed down their choice to just one quilt to submit.

I am submitting my "Sleeping Beauty" quilt. I have nicknamed it that because it has been sleeping for ages now. No really, AGES! It is actually a pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting's October 2009 edition! It took me about a year to find the fabrics ('cause back then I didn't know about online fabric shopping), and then another year to casually work on piecing it. I finally had it all pieced together in January of this year. I managed to back, sandwich, and mark it; and then I cast it aside for several months while I got over my fear of quilting it. Thanks to monthly practice with SewCalGal's Free Motion Challenge, and a few other practice pieces, I finally sat down to quilt this sleeping beauty this month.

The quilting wasn't difficult, but I had built it up in my mind, worrying about mistakes.

This is what it looks like now after washing, etc. I love that crinkly look.

And it is hung! Our bed doesn't have a proper backboard, so it seemed like the ideal place to hang this large quilt. Bonus, I get to look at it day and night!

Quilt Stats:

Finished Quilt Size: 60 inches x 60 inches

Special Techniques: none (sad really, that it took me so long with no special techniques required!)

Quilted by: ME! on my Janome

Best Categories: Wall Hanging, Home Machine Quilted

I am # 214 in case you are keeping a list of favorites!

Thank you for considering me. Now, go look at some other amazing quilts and be inspired!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

So this morning, when I was taking pictures of my Totally Groovy quilt for my post, it was incredibly windy. I am amazed I got any shots since the quilt spent most of it's time up in the air. Anyway, the wind died down a little by midday, so I thought I would try to take some pics in a different area along the white fence that separates our driveway from the neighbors yard. It seemed like a good choice as the white is pretty neutral. To get the quilt to hang on the fence, I picked up two bricks to weigh down the top as I draped it over. Of course, before any pictures were taken, one of the bricks fell, ON the bottom corner of the quilt, and...

Not one but two holes!

They go straight through. I am beside myself! This quilt was supposed to be a gift for a "totally groovy" guy in my family and it is ruined because I got greedy with the camera.

The affected area is that lower right hand corner.

The way I see it, I have two options:

1) unbind the entire quilt, then cut off a few inches (and the holes) along the width of the quilt, rebind. This would make the quilt a few inches less tall (it will still be plenty big), and I would lose that little yellow spot, and the yellow spot on the bottom left will be even smaller, but the rest of the design of the quilt would essentially be unaffected.

2) patch the quilt in some way over both holes and requilt the daylights out of those areas. I am less fond of this option as I think it would look crappy.

Sometimes a song gets stuck in my head. Boogie Fever was the one that got stuck yesterday as I feverishly quilted away at this Groovy quilt:

Now mind you, I don't know all the lyrics to the song, just the opening chorus. Disco seems to go with this quilt, don't you think?

I love this pattern and the use of solids. It really gives you a chance to get fun with the quilting, and even with matching threads, the designs really pop off the quilt.

I especially had fun with those modern squares (I've been wanting to try them out for a while now), and I was trying to go for a liberated chevron there in the yellow. Not sure if I accomplished that or not, but I like it. Of course no quilt of mine would be complete without some swirls somewhere, and when I see solid gray I can't help but think of pebbles. I think the solids looked so nice, I used them on the back too, design by me.

Well, there you have it. My take on the Totally Groovy QAL. I think I am just in time to link up with the other participants.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I've been working feverishly on something and hope (fingers crossed) to have another finish posted tomorrow! I've actually been so caught up in my work, I realized I didn't have anything to take a picture of for this post, so I ran downstairs and snapped a sneak peek for you...

That's right! There is more quilting in progress here.

This Wednesday......

Completed Projects:

Star of Africa Bee Block - September's is done (you can read about it here). Now I need to finish October's!

Batik Stripe Quilt - this one moved up the lists and is now D-O-N-E! Once I got warmed up on the table runner, I had to continue with something else. Bonus! It is part of my 100 Day Hustle list.

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week".

Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - top done, backing done, sandwiched and basted. Needs quilting and I am STILL suffering from quilter's block. How do I solve this problem? Quilt something else....

Totally Groovy Quilt Along - Top DONE! I admit that during the piecing process, I had given very little thought to the back of this quilt, but I managed to come up with something. Quilting now in progress.

Star of Africa Bee - October's block is now due. Designing in progress (Read "I am doodling in a notebook from time to time)

Preschool Pillowcases - time to get started on these. I know it doesn't sound like much, but they have a lot of pillows that all need new cases.

Free Motion Challenge item - my arms are so sore from all the quilting these last few days, but I might have a little left in me for this one too.

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.

How Far Will You Go? QAL - I put this one aside until my blocks for the bees were done. Now they are, but I need a tiny break from blocks (especially paper pieced ones).

Handstitched Medallion Quilt - THE main project of the class. I actually did have an opportunity to rip out the borders that have been giving me trouble, but now I need to fix them and sew them back on again.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

I would like to proudly announce that a bee mate (and friend) has been inducted into the not-so-Hollywood Walk of Fame! For excellence in the category of Sewing and Quilting, the star goes to.... Benta of Slik Stitches!

yes, I edited her last name out to protect the innocent

Benta actually had the brilliant idea of having us create a center block and four "liberated star points". She saw this quilt at Stitches and Scissors and decided to have us make some of the blocks for her. Didn't I say she was brilliant?

I decided to represent my "area/country" by recreating a star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I have only visited the walk twice since moving to the Los Angeles area. The first time was as a tourist, the second was showing another tourist around. It is one of the most visited landmarks in the area, and what better way to recognize my local and my lovely friend.

What have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks. You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off! And, don't forget, you have all week to add them if you like.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please consider grabbing my button and posting it in your blog post
4) Visit other linky participants!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

We interrupt our regularly scheduled book review to bring you a truly rare event - a languishing UFO has been spotted on the sewing table and may be in need of reclassification.......

This quilt has been languishing for some time. It IS the first quilt I pieced together with the thought of keeping it for myself. I loved it. Loved it so much that when I finished it, it sat (sandwiched, marked, etc) in a heap in the corner of my "studio" since March, waiting. Waiting till I was good enough to quilt it myself, waiting for me to find the right thread, waiting, waiting, waiting.

Honestly, I think it waited out of fear. I was fearful that I would mess it up. It's the first thing I made for myself, and I wanted it to be perfect. Is it? NO. I messed up loads while quilting it. I even abandoned some of the marking because I have "developed" since marking it and it didn't make complete sense to try to stick with something that wasn't going to work for me. Oh, and I never did find the color thread I had in mind. As for perfection, I guess I could always make another one in a year or two. But, this one is DONE, and I can start to enjoy seeing it hanging on my wall or laying on the bed instead of wasting away in a crumbled heap in the garage. Furthermore, I cannot describe the satisfaction of being able to say it is done. It feels so good!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Why does it seem so long since I have posted a finish Friday? Oh wait, it is because I haven't had many finishes other than blocks recently! Well, as I mentioned on Wednesday, I did manage to finish up my Sashiko coasters.

This was one of the projects from the Handstitched class at Stitched in Color. I am really ashamed that it took me so long to actually do this project, because once I started them I really enjoyed making them. They were fun! So much so, that I want to make another set. I think they would look amazing in red and gray. Hmm, things to ponder.

I also managed to finish my Leaf Table Runner with the blocks I made for the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop back on the 10th. I think it turned out rather nicely. What do you think?

Do you know that I don't think I have actually ever stippled an entire quilt before? I always seem to opt for something more complex, but stippling is fun (and fast!). I may have to do more of it, especially for some of those UFO's that I have lying around.

This is the backing fabric. Pretty, huh? Ironically, it is this fabric that made me sign up for the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop, yet it is the only fall fabric from my stash that I didn't use! I guess it was destined for this post instead.

I still have no idea how I am going to quilt it. I started drawing out some designs in my notebook, but I have a tendency to choose designs that may end up looking to busy. I may just go for it anyway!

Somehow, I escaped Jury Duty on Monday and finished up those bee blocks for the 3 x 6. Whew! Yesterday, I didn't have to report either, so I finished my coasters, basted my leaf table runner and the quilt above, and even had a little time to pull out Totally Groovy!

Today, I plan to piece a little more of it before switching my set up over to quilting mode! I'll get warmed up with the table runner, then what?? Friday, I fully expect to have to report to the court, so I better get my Star of Africa block ready for the handwork portion. If I have to sit around all day, I better have something to do!

This Wednesday......

Completed Projects:

6 blocks for the paper piecing hive of the 3 x 6 Bee - the final 6 blocks! DONE!

Sashiko coasters - DONE! I decided that I didn't want to restitch the one that looked different. I figure, every group has its quirky member, so will my coaster set.

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week".

Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - top done, backing done, sandwiched and basted. Needs quilting and I am suffering from quilter's block. I can't decide on a design.

Star of Africa Bee - September's block is now late!, and now October's block is now due. I have a design planned for September's block, but I am trying to figure out how to avoid paper piecing it! Terrible, huh?

Batik Stripe Quilt - this one is moving up the lists! I plan on starting the quilting this week! Perhaps I should rename this one "Sleeping Beauty". It has been waiting for ages for true love's stitch. Part of my 100 Day Hustle list.

Back Burner:

These projects are part of my 100 Day Hustle List also, but will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.

Preschool Pillowcases

How Far Will You Go? QAL - I put this one aside until my blocks for the bees were done. Now they are, but I need a tiny break from blocks (especially paper pieced ones).

Handstitched Medallion Quilt - THE main project of the class. I actually did have an opportunity to rip out the borders that have been giving me trouble, but now I need to fix them and sew them back on again.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I've been working all week on the last 6 blocks for the 3 x 6 bee, specifically my paper piecing hive. I chose a block out of the book, Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop - really the only paper pieced block in the book.

If it looks familiar, that's because I tested the block out with my fall fabrics for the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop last week (see the post here). One would think that testing the block would have given me some insight on how to complete the block successfully. Well, yes and no. I still had troubles. Lots and lots of troubles! In fact, I would say the test block came together the easiest. But of course, I am too stubborn to give up easily.

If you look at the block above, you can see clearly that I need to work on those center points, and the block appears slightly off center (because it is, see the bottom fans are not even).

my favorite

The block's construction seems straightforward. You make the paper pieces, put them together, trim the block to size, then add the borders. I am not sure what the deal was, but one of the pieces in the pattern gave me more trouble than others, piece #3, and because of it my trimming was limited. At first I thought that maybe that pattern piece was increased differently when I printed the pattern out, but the other pieces on the same paper were the right size, so??? And, my points just weren't playing nicely. Something about having five pieces coming together in a half, instead of the usual four, really threw things off. So, I looked for tips from some of my favorite paper-piecers.

Lynne at Lily's Quilts provided the help I needed (check out her post). I added at least 1/2 inch onto the outside seam allowances, so I would be able to trim the block to size, thus avoiding the lopsidedness of my test block. Also, Lynne recommends sewing all your individual pieces together by starting from the points outward. This REALLY helped! If you sew in the other direction, even the best pinning job can shift a bit, making your points crooked.

These lovely tips got me through the paper piecing of the block, but that didn't mean that disaster could strike....I trimmed one of the blocks to small on one side, and had to start the whole block over again (now I have a small red, white and blue one for myself!). Also, one bee mate didn't choose a color combo and wanted to be surprised. As I was cutting all my fabric out, the one box I hadn't touched in a while was my black/white/gray box. But, I didn't consult the information about my bee mate given at the start of the bee. Turns out she dislikes neutral colors, and what color did I make her block? Yep, black, gray and white - can't get any more neutral than that! So another block needed to be made for her.

I'll keep this one!

Is this more colorful?

Now, I am still no expert, and not all my points came out perfectly. But, I think these turned out nicely. I hope my bee mates agree.

I am considering writing up a little "review" of this block - a lessons learned type thing, since there were many. I need a few days to put my thoughts together. As for paper piecing, I might need to take a little break after these. Unfortunate, since the How Far Will You Go QAL has several paper pieced blocks that I need to catch up on. These stars were time consuming and a bit frustrating, and my brain needs to reset. I think I will go back to curves...ha!

Now then, enough about me and my struggles for the week. What have you been working on?

Link up your fabulous blocks. You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off! And, don't forget, you have all week to add them if you like.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please consider grabbing my button and posting it in your blog post
4) Visit other linky participants!

Connect with Me

About Me

I am a quilter in the closet...

Well, I took my first quilting class a few years ago, but I still consider myself a "Newbie". After several periods of non-quilting, I had only finished a handful of quilts and was still trying out new techniques and styles to find "my thing". Then I started this blog. It has inspired me to grow in my craft in ways I didn't expect.

I created this blog for numerous reasons: 1) to motivate me to quilt on a more continuous basis, 2) to appeal to other Newbie Quilters out there (sometimes hearing the trials and tribulations of someone at a similar level of expertise is even better than getting the info from a pro)., and 3) to make more quilting friends.

Now for what you are really wondering...why am I in the closet? Well, as a Newbie, I am still learning my skills. And while my family and a few select friends know that I am a quilter, that knowledge is still met with whispers and eyebrow raising. I even still get the occasional, "Seems a little young to be doing such things". So until I am ready to say it loud and proud, I remain "in the closet", except to those of you that share my passion.